For School Support Staff, Respect Begins with a Living Wage

Danielle Jones is a special education instructional assistant in Arlington City Schools in Virginia. She has been in her current position for seven years and has spent 21 years in education. Jones has a bachelor’s degree and is halfway to earning her master’s. She works a second job as a speech and debate coach and has a roommate—common for support staff in the district. 

But some colleagues are facing even greater financial pressures. “We have people who are receiving housing assistance, we have people who are on food stamps. The pay is not just enough to make daily ends meet,” Jones says. 

“We are all dedicated professionals, but it is getting difficult to bring 100 percent, especially if you have to work in another job. It’s exhausting and it leads to burnout.” 

In 2024, the National Education Association surveyed school support staff, also known as education support professionals (ESP), and found that low pay is a “moderate or serious” concern for 90 percent of those who work in K-12 schools. Thirty-seven percent hold down a second job and one-third have a moderate or serious problem buying food. Many respondents also reported that they skip routine or preventative doctor appointments to avoid compounding financial strain. 

Staff shortages have been widespread, especially since the pandemic, but will only worsen, Jones says, unless improvements are made. “If people can’t really survive on the low pay, the staff turnover, the shortages will only get worse. These are dedicated people, but how do continue if you’re thinking your food stamps won’t last to the end of the month?” 

ESP Earnings Lagging Inflation 

According to new data released this week by NEA, less than one-third (29.7 percent) of all ESPs working full-time in 2023-24 earned less than $25,000 per year, and 10 percent earned less than $15,000.  

The “Education Support Professional Earnings Report” is released annually and provides a pay breakdown for school support staff working in K-12 public schools and higher education. 

Of the approximately 2.2 million support staff working in K-12 public schools, 34.5 percent made less than $25,000 in 2023-24. In 2022-23, 38 percent earned less than $25,000. 

Within higher education, 12.6 percent earn less than $25,000, and 6.2 percent earn less than $15,000.  

The earnings report also found that the average earnings for a full-time ESP was $37,097, only a $1,000 increase over the previous year. Higher education earnings came in at $45,662, K-12 at $34,954.  

For K-12 ESPs, that’s an overall increase from $31,190 in 2014-15, but, when adjusted for inflation, average earnings have declined to $28,318 in constant 2015 over the past ten years. 

According to the report, Rhode Island had the highest average K–12 ESP full-time earnings at $42,940. Full-time earnings was above $40,000 in eight states—Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island—and the District of Columbia.  

Oklahoma had the lowest average K–12 ESP full-time earnings at $27,656. The average K–12 ESP full-time earnings was below $29,000 in five states (Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma).  

The Collective Bargaining Difference 

Once again, as was evident in previous earnings reports, the “union advantage” is real. 

ESPs in states with collective bargaining statutes earn on average $38,554. Those who work in states where collective bargaining is prohibited earn on average $35,879, a seven percent difference.  

In 2024, bargaining power fueled a major victory for paraeducators in Andover, Massachusetts, where Karen Torres has worked as an instructional assistant for 17 years. A hard-fought new contract has lifted starting pay from $24,537 to $39,142 per year. By the end of the four-year contract, the highest paid will be earning $50,103. 

Torres, the 2024 Massachusetts Teachers Association ESP of the Year and a key member of the Andover Education Association bargaining team, says her job has changed significantly over the years. 

“When I started, the job entailed was a lot of making copies for teachers, correcting papers, watching children in the lunchroom, monitoring recess,” Torres recalls. “It has evolved immensely, and that is mostly due to increasing student needs—the academic demands and the behavioral and social emotional needs, which are nothing like they were a decade or so ago. But the compensation just has not kept up, and it’s unacceptable.”   

‘Show us That Respect’ 

A living wage is one of the central pillars of the national ESP Bill of Rights campaign, recently introduced by NEA. The campaign is calling on lawmakers to invest in school support staff and outlines the top 10 most pressing concerns of ESPs. Along with a living wage, these include adequate health coverage, paid leave, professional training and education, and a safe and healthy work environment. In addition to Massachusetts and Virginia, local and state unions have launched bill of rights campaigns in 12 other states, including Maryland, Illinois, Vermont, Michigan, and Washington.

Vermont bus driver Jimmy Johnson helped create Vermont-NEA’s Educators’ Bill of Rights, which members approved at their 2024 representative assembly, and carved out provisions specifically for support staff, including a minimum starting rate of $30 per hour. “We all want a better life,” Johnson recently told NEA Today. 

Both Torres and Jones have been instrumental in their respective states’ campaigns. 

In her advocacy, Torres says she is often struck by peoples’ reactions when they’re informed about the low pay, lack of benefits and challenging working conditions ESPs endure.  

“It's mind-blowing to people. So when you get the word out there in the community, when you tell your story, it should help getting districts and school boards to sign off on the bill of rights. We’re working very hard in getting politicians and elected officials to stand behind us on this,” says Torres. 

First, it starts with a living wage, says Jones. “There are so many things that need to change, but the sincerest form of appreciation is to compensate us justly, and then other things will follow that. Our work on other issues doesn't end. But pay us what we are worth, show us that respect.”